Antidote
by Glacey
Summary: Ever wonder what toll the title Champion carries?  Originalshipping, RedxGreen, GreenxRed


It was just like any other day. Red would be challenged by some random unskillful Pokemon trainer, defeat them with ease and move on. That was beginning to become a daily ritual to the former champion. He may have given up the title three years ago, but hundreds of other trainers and people still see him as the champion.

They considered it some form of 'honor' to battle Red no matter how badly they lost.

Truth be told. Red was getting sick of this false honor his challengers would spout out seconds before the battle began. More often than not it made his stomach churn and ache. He felt a hole beginning to form in his heart. He felt lonely and forgotten.

Champion. What did it mean to be the Champion of the Pokemon League?

It'd been so long since Red became the Champion he had forgotten what it truly felt like. He vaguely remembered being excited to have defeated Green. That's when the hole in his heart began to rip open.

Of course Red had his beloved Pokemon. They recognized him as Red, just plain old boy that was talented in training and loved him for who he was. The same for his mother and Green. The rest of the region saw him in an entirely different light.

And those thoughts troubled him. As those three years passed he saw his image be warped, manipulated and rewritten before his very eyes.

Now Red's very soul felt broken; ripped apart and beaten beyond repair.

It was among those days where Red would stay up those long gruesome nights. Tortured by his own thoughts where he was imprisoned by default. Green slept peacefully behind him. Red sat with his feet hanging off the side of the Viridian City gym leader's bed and stared dully at his naked feet as he pressed them down into the soft carpet below.

_...Champion...Powerful...Fearful...Intimidating...Soul-less..._ These words poisoned Red's mind to the very core.

Red could already feel the tears welling up in his eyes. In a poor attempt to keep them from falling he squinted his eyes shut and gripped the sheets. Once the first tear fell he bit his lip to hold back the small sobs that would soon follow.

Red never broke down in the presence of others. He hardly cried at all to begin with. But sometimes his shoulders would feel too heavy from the burdens that were so wrongly placed on him.

Just as Red had predicted he could feel the sobs and gripped the sheets even tighter than before causing his hands to whiten from the lack of blood. The tears continued to leak from his eyes, glistening in the air as they fell from his cheeks to his knees. He had attempted to wipe the tears away but they just kept coming. It wasn't long before the knots in his chest and stomach grew far too unbearable and he began to sob, cupping his hand over his mouth in an attempt to stifle the sobs.

Two warm arms wrapped around his chilled body from behind, pulling him into a gentle hug. Red stiffened, more in surprise than fear, as Green rested his forehead on Red's shoulder from behind. He hadn't heard Green wake up or move from his position on the bed. Gently, he tried to turn Red around so that Green could wipe away the obvious tears but the scarlet eyed boy refused.

Curling up into a ball, he wrapped his arms around his knees and buried his face into the darkness, refusing to let the moonlit room reveal his weakness.

"Red…" Green began but Red just shook his head. He didn't want to be comforted right now. He couldn't bother Green with his conflicting inner thoughts; the gym leader had enough on his plate as it was.

With a sigh Green moved closer and wrapped his arms around trembling shoulders, his hands locking themselves loosely in front of Red's curled up form. Letting his forehead rest against the back of Red's neck he murmured in a low soothing voice, "Talk to me Red. Tell me what's wrong."

There was a hiccup from somewhere in between Red's knees. Green waited patiently and after several minutes of silence Red's voice cracked. "….broken."

Green pulled the boy into a hug despite the protective measures the other was taking. "What's broken Red?" He asked softly.

"…..me."

Green blinked. Huh? He nuzzled Red's shoulder a little, hoping to loosen Red's tense body up a little but he didn't say anything. Instead, he silently encouraged Red to go on.

"Inside…my….soul….." Red managed to choke out between the now audible sobs. His throat clogged and he choked, squeezing his eyes even tighter as the tears came in steady streams. "I feel….like…my heart…and soul...have been shattered." Red whispered.

"Then it's a good thing you have me to pick up the pieces." Green murmured.

For a second Green heard a grace period of silence from Red before the sobs slowly came back. He could feel Red shift around.

Time felt like it had frozen for the few minutes that passed by. Green's eyes softened, he wanted so badly to let Red know if he wanted someone to confide in, he was there. He would always be there for Red. But the pride of the shorter boy wouldn't allow that. Green wished he himself could say more comforting things to Red, but felt it necessary to wait.

Red's body began to tremble even more so than before. At first Green only felt it trembling when he sobbed but now he could feel Red's entire body shaking. Red was cold Green had noticed, but he didn't think Red was trembling from the cold.

Thoughts continued to torture his mind. Red clenched his teeth together, stopping the sobs for a short while as foolish words of jealousy, false honor and compliments poisoned his mind as they had done so often before. He didn't seem to notice when his jaw began to hurt due to him subconsciously grinding his teeth in a desperate act to bite away those soured words.

He did a decent job holding back the sobs but to his dismay he started to quietly whimper after a few more moments of the silent torture.

_I never asked for this! I was such a fool! Why did I want to be who I was three years ago? why? Why? WHY?_ Red's mind continued to cry out. He didn't think it possible but he squeezed his eyes shut even tighter than before. His whimpers turned back into sobs that were louder than before. He could feel his face turn even hotter than it was before as his eyelids began to feel heavy from all the liquids that continued to pour out.

Red hated what his goal had made him. He hated himself. Every little detail he began to loathe entirely. A voice in the back of his head kept telling him he was going way too far. But the pain was far too great for his heart.

Red slid his hand in between his chest and legs he had curled against himself earlier and pulled at his shirt over his heart. His heart was beating so powerfully it almost felt like it would jump out of his chest. And for a short second he wished for it to just stop beating altogether.

"Red...?" Green's calm soothing voice pierced through all of Red's negative thoughts. "Red, look at me." He ordered. When he didn't move, Green reached up and grabbed Red's chin, forcing the boy to twist and look Green in the eyes. Red's face was dirty from the tears and more brimmed along his haunted looking eyes.

Guessing as to what torture Red was allowing himself to be drawn into, Green looked him square in the eye. "Listen up." He said sternly. "You were never the kind of kid who asked for help. I get that. I was the same way." His eyes softened just a little. "You're not a kid anymore. You can choose whether or not to find help in any kind of form you want. You aren't limited to yourself."

With an inward sigh, he'd gone and lectured Red again (he swore he'd stop doing that); he let his forehead rest against Red's sweaty one. "My doors are always open to you. You can always seek shelter from any sort of storm here. Understand?" He asked meeting Red's eyes.

Red buried his face in Green's shoulder, his arms tightening around Green's neck. Hot tears fell from his eyes to land on Green's T-shirt. Green understood. He always understood. Why was it that he always knew what to say to cure that horrible ugly disease that ate away at him from the inside? How did he know?

He felt Green sigh and a comforting hand caressed the back of his head, lifting his hair away from his neck to help cool it. "You forgot your basics Red." Green murmured. "Remember them next time got it?" He felt Red nod vigorously. "Good." He kissed the side of Red's head.

Red sniffed. He knew was going to encounter more poison as he continued to train on Mount Silver; there was no doubt about that. It didn't matter where he would go, the poison would always be there.

But like all poisons, there was always a cure, an antidote. His antidote just happened to be a green eyed gym leader. He didn't think he was going to forget that any time soon.

_Thank you Green_


End file.
